Description
What the Mr. Coffee SK13-RB is
This is about as simple as a coffee maker gets. Water goes in the reservoir, ground coffee goes in the basket, the switch goes on, and twelve cups of coffee brew into a glass carafe that sits on a warming plate. There is no clock, no timer, no strength selector and no programming. The only display is a light that tells you the machine is on.
The model is SK13-RB, the finish is black, published dimensions are 11.76 inches deep by 12.3 wide by 13.8 high, and the weight is 3.6 pounds. The listing dates first availability to July 2009, which makes this one of the longest running products on the site, and it ranks 20th in Amazon’s Coffee Machines category, which is high.
That combination of age and ranking says something. A machine with no features that has stayed near the top of its category for over a decade is being bought for exactly what it is.
Grab-A-Cup Auto Pause
The one named feature is Grab-A-Cup Auto Pause. Lift the carafe mid brew and a valve in the filter basket closes, stopping coffee dripping onto the hot plate; put the carafe back and brewing resumes.
It solves a small but real problem for anyone who wants a cup before a twelve cup brew finishes. It is worth knowing what it does not solve: the coffee poured early is not the same coffee that would come out at the end. Extraction changes through a brew cycle, with the early flow stronger and the later flow weaker, so a cup taken at the two minute mark is more concentrated than the finished pot. The feature prevents a mess, not a difference in the cup.
The cord storage feature is exactly what it sounds like: a channel to tuck the excess cord into so it does not sprawl across the counter.
The carafe, the filter and what is not stated
The carafe is glass and sits on a warming plate. That is the traditional arrangement and it has a well known consequence: coffee left on a hot plate keeps cooking. Within twenty to thirty minutes it develops the stewed, bitter character that thermal carafe machines avoid by not applying heat at all. For a household that drinks the pot quickly this is irrelevant, and for anyone who nurses a pot through a morning it is the main argument for a different machine such as the Braun BrewSense.
The filter arrangement is unclear in the listing. The description says a removable basket filter that lifts out for filling and cleaning, which describes a basket that takes paper filters. The attribute table says the filter type is reusable and lists a permanent filter among the special features. Those are different things and the listing does not resolve it. Assume paper filters unless the box says otherwise, and budget for them.
No wattage is published, no brew temperature is stated, and there is no mention of a showerhead or water distribution design. Brew temperature is the specification that separates good drip machines from poor ones, since coffee needs water close to 200 degrees Fahrenheit to extract properly, and it is absent here.
What twelve cups really means
Coffee maker cups are not measuring cups. The industry convention on drip machines is a five ounce cup, so a twelve cup carafe holds about sixty ounces, which is closer to seven or eight mugs than twelve. Anyone buying on the assumption of twelve mugs of coffee will find the pot smaller than expected, and that applies across the category rather than to this machine specifically.
Sixty ounces is still a full pot and it is enough for a household of two or three, or for a small office through a morning. The machine also brews smaller quantities without complaint, since the amount brewed is simply the amount of water put in the reservoir, and the auto pause feature exists precisely because people take a cup before the pot finishes.
Highlights
- 12 cup capacity in a glass carafe.
- Grab-A-Cup Auto Pause for pouring mid brew without a mess.
- Removable filter basket that lifts out for filling and cleaning.
- On and off indicator light.
- Cord storage channel.
- Very light at 3.6 pounds.
- Nothing to program, nothing to learn and nothing to go wrong in software.
- Ships in frustration free packaging.
Things To Consider
- No timer, no clock, no programmable start and no strength control.
- No wattage and no brew temperature are published, and brew temperature is what determines the cup.
- The listing describes the filter as both reusable and as a removable basket for filling, which are different arrangements.
- A glass carafe on a hot plate stews coffee within half an hour.
- The recommended use field says traveling, which does not describe a 12 cup drip machine.
- The attribute table calls it both manual and fully automatic.
- The reservoir is not removable, so filling means carrying water to the machine or the machine to the sink.
- No descaling guidance is included in the listing, and drip machines need descaling.
- The warming plate keeps the pot hot but has no automatic shutoff stated anywhere in the listing.
Who it suits
This is the right machine for an office kitchen, a rental, a vacation house or anyone who wants twelve cups of coffee with no thinking involved. It is cheap, it is light, it has almost nothing to break, and the auto pause covers the one genuine annoyance of a large drip brew. For a household that drinks the pot within half an hour, there is very little argument for spending more.
It is the wrong machine for anyone who wants coffee waiting when they wake up, who leaves a pot standing for hours, or who cares about brew temperature and extraction. Buyers who want programming should compare the Cuisinart DCC-1500TG programmable coffeemaker, and those who want brewing done properly should read the Technivorm Moccamaster KBGV Select review. Anyone brewing for a crowd should look at the West Bend 30 cup urn, and the wider selection sits in the coffee machines category.
